Friday, September 30, 2011

A couple of weeks ago, we began the process of building no-till beds here at the farm.

We started with the beds along the side of the new high tunnel.

BEFORE

The process goes like this:

Mow the area of land as close to the earth as possible (already done before this photo)

Lay down newspaper where the beds will be sited ** if it is windy, using a hose to spray water and weigh down the paper helps! ** try not to get too distracted by the funnies!

Go the compost pile and grab a heaping bucket of lush, brown, organic matter. Then, driving carefully backwards over the bed, have two helpers with shovels scoop the compost from the bucket to the newspaper.

As I mentioned last week, we had a marathon pre-frost winter squash harvest. We were able to save a TON of winter squash from freezing. Here are harvest pictures, as promised

But, now that the frosts have passed, we are back to warm, mostly sunny days, tomatoes still kickin, and even the beans are holding on!
Since we are now finding ourselves in-between seasons with a cross section of foods, I think the following recipe should be fun!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

We got our first frost this past weekend (in September!)... two frosts, actually. And, yes, they were killing frosts, not just 'kissing' frosts.

So, we lost some things in the garden: cucumbers - gone; basil - gone; summer squash - gone. The jury is still out as to whether we lost the beans or not...We did save the tomatoes + peppers, though. And, of course, our marathon winter squash harvest last Friday (pictures to follow) was worth it!

I know it is not truly Autumn yet, but I can't help but be a little excited to eat yummy, hearty, autumny things like carrots, apples, potatoes, and winter squash!

Whichever way you choose to dive into Autumn, enjoy it! And don't fret, if you aren't quite ready, we've still got cherry tomatoes and big boys, tomatillos and green peppers to pick for next week... salsa is still an option!